VIDEO GAMES & YOUR HEALTH

Do you like playing video games ? Staying late for hours, many times till dawn ? I have dark news for you. According to many studies, you might be at risk of developing a lot of health issues related to video gaming. Doctors claim that conditions like repetitive strain injuries, skin disorders or other problems including seizures can be well provoked by excessive video gaming. In extreme cases even deaths were proved to be caused by electrolyte imbalance, deep vein thrombosis and seizures, due to long video-gaming marathons.

ISSUES

Musculoskeletal problems: Pain in the hands, wrists, back and neck. Studies claim that the computer use of 2 hours or more a day increases the risk for pain at most anatomic sites.

Skin problems: stiffness, chaffed hands, warts on hands or on arms. Heightened allergic response in people who suffer from atopic eczema.

Vision problems: prolonged viewing of the screen can cause eye strain, as the cornea, pupil and iris are not designed for mass viewing sessions of electronic devices.

Psychological problems: to much interaction with violent video games may lead to an increase in aggressive behaviour and negatively influence pro-social behaviour. How many times do you burst out in anger when the phone starts ringing while you play your game ? Stress levels and depression are also known to increase. Addicted players tend to do worse in school and have increased truancy and reduced sleep time.

Obesity: Playing video games is associated with an increase in food intake in teens. Statistically the kids who spend the most hours watching tv or playing video games, have the highest incidence of obesity.

Photosensitive epilepsy: Playing games and watching tv can trigger seizures in photosensitive but also in non-photosensitive children and adolescents with epilepsy, and could bring out the seizure the first time in someone who is not aware of having it.

How Many Hours A Day & Which Games Should Kids Play ?

For your kids, look at video games in terms of food, with games with positive message being a healthy food like fruits and veggies, and shooting and other violent games as the junk food. Let them play positive game with moderation and get rid of junk which is never good for you. No one is going to tell you what to play if you an adult, but moderation still applies to you. Many doctors agree that one hour a day is a safe limit that shouldn’t cause any physiological or psychological changes in an average player.